Apple said Tuesday that third-quarter profits rose more than 77 percent to $3.25 billion, or $3.51 per diluted share, on sales of $15.7 billion for the three-month period ended June 26, 2010.

The results compare to revenue of $9.73 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.83 billion, or $2.01 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 39.1 percent compared to 40.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 52 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the quarter, representing a new quarterly record and a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The company sold 8.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 61 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 9.41 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Â*Meanwhile, iPad sales totaled of 3.27 million.

"It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple's history with iPhone 4," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year."

"We're really pleased to have generated over $4 billion of cash during the quarter," added Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. Â*"Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue of about $18 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $3.44" Â*

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q3 2010 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on July 20, 2010. AppleInsider will provide full coverage.

The lower EPS guidance despite much higher ($18B) revenue guidance for the next quarter is very interesting. Is this because of new products with lower margins on the horizon or projected price cuts on existing products?

Looks like AAPL is getting ready for their first $20B+ quarter later this year...

The lower EPS guidance despite much higher ($18B) revenue guidance for the next quarter is very interesting. Is this because of new products with lower margins on the horizon or projected price cuts on existing products?

Looks like AAPL is getting ready for their first $20B+ quarter later this year...

You can't place any importance in forward guidance. It is always a low-ball joke. Just enjoy the current numbers.

The lower EPS guidance despite much higher ($18B) revenue guidance for the next quarter is very interesting. Is this because of new products with lower margins on the horizon or projected price cuts on existing products?

Looks like AAPL is getting ready for their first $20B+ quarter later this year...

They have been guiding down margins for a long time, but one of these days I expect it to be serious. It would take a dramatic change in product mix for the margins to get that much lower though-- like a $100 drop in ASP for iPhones to around $500.

Congress took a break from considering other legislation today to pass a bill prohibiting patent trolls, the media, technoblog pundits, or deathgripping idiots from picking on Apple any more. "It's about the only gawdsdamned part of the US economy which is still working, and it's our job to protect that," said Congressman McNotsteve. "Jobs is our number one priority," added an aide, smugly.

True, but that would only work if Macs weren't selling. But if sales are surging I would have expected the % usage share to surge too. Unless loads of people are buying Macs and not using them

The numbers that were linked to include all OSs, mobile and traditional, in one big pot. Apple sells more iOs than Mac OS, so that alone would, I think (didn't spend a lot of time looking at their numbers), keep their Mac OS numbers down in that presentation. And, I didn't see individual numbers for Chrome there.

No. I don't want dividends. Dividends are for utilities and staid old fossils like MSFT. Apple is a technology leader that needs to continue growing. I like the $40B in the bank. I love its price appreciation.

MSFT responded to demands for dividends, and pays, what, 3¢ a share (correction: 13¢.... big deal). Its share price has been flat ever since (of course, being a has-been of a company is a factor too).

No. I don't want dividends. Dividends are for utilities and staid old fossils like MSFT. Apple is a technology leader that needs to continue growing. I like the $40B in the bank. I love its price appreciation.

MSFT responded to demands for dividends, and pays, what, 3¢ a share. Its share price has been flat ever since (of course, being a has-been of a company is a factor too).

No dividends.

Agree wholeheartedly.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

Yet Leo Laporte and Co. keeps saying, "Apple doesn't care about Macs.", "Apple will replace OS X with iOS". To say this is to not know Apple and they should get someone else to host the show, for krists sakes.

No. I don't want dividends. Dividends are for utilities and staid old fossils like MSFT. Apple is a technology leader that needs to continue growing. I like the $40B in the bank. I love its price appreciation.

MSFT responded to demands for dividends, and pays, what, 3¢ a share (correction: 13¢.... big deal). Its share price has been flat ever since (of course, being a has-been of a company is a factor too).

No dividends.

Such utter nonsense. Dividends are for companies throwing off more cash than they could realistically reinvest in expanding their business, a situation which perfectly describes Apple. The comparison to Microsoft is useless.

"Apple now has $45.8 billion dollars in cash. That's a lot of cash -- up $4.1 billion from last quarter."

They've been building cash reserves at a rate of over $1b a month for several years now. Some seem to think it would be virtually criminal for Apple to give even some small fraction of that growing cash hoard back to the stockholders. Beats me why.